First of all this film is terribly dishonest , because presents current Poles as primitive anti-Semits who crucify their neighbour only because he respects Jewish headstones . This is an absurd and sick imagination of producer Wladyslaw Pasikowski. In Poland was opposite situation – a few years ago one man from Briansk collected Jewish headstones tu put them in cemetery , but his neighbours did not attack him , but opposite- respected him and elected in local election. In result he became a president of local council. His name was Zbigniew Romaniuk. Pasikowski used this story but turned upside down . In his film the people attacked , beat and finally crucified honest man who took Jewish headstones to put them in cemetery. Now he talks that this film was about Jedwabne , although in Jedwabne such situation did not happen. He create fictional film with fictional situation , but in interviews he call it historical film and connects it with crime in Jedwabne. He is a liar, because all situations in his film did not happen . Crime in Jedwabne was different, too. We do not know what really happen there. The investigation did not explain , because was not honest . When the prosecutors found 46 German bullets and bodies of 150 Jews ( although the Jews in all the world accuse the Poles of killing 1600 Jews) – they had to stop their work because of Jewish pressure . The beginning of exhumation confirmed Polish version : the crimes was made by the Germans ( proof : 46 German bullets), numbers of victims was much smaller than 1600 ( according to Polish expert in Jedwabne about 150 people were killed , but in result if Jewish pressure they enlarged this number to 340 ) , the bodies were burnt in very high temperature which means using petrol ( from the Germans , because the Poles from Jedwabne did not have petrol and car)-and therefore the exhumation was stopped . The Jews had promise from Lech Kaczynski ( who was that time a Minister of Justice and Attorney General ) that the prosecutors would exhume the bodies only during presence of Jewish rabbis and therefore to stop exhumation the rabbis left Poland : Michael Schudrich went to USA and other rabbi Ekstein – to Israel. The prosecutors had to finish exhumation, because without these rabbis they could not continue their work ! In all the world the Jews accused Polish people of killing 1600 Jews , but they let the prosecutors work only not full 3 days since 30 May until 4 June 2001 ( not full because half day of first day , half day of the third day) .

I'm middle aged Pole living in large city. I just watched "Aftermath". This is not a brilliant movie from "must see" category, but it is important for Polish domestic discussions.

I understand some Poles are aware that this film might be misleading, depicting us as dark evildoers. Awareness and knowledge of World War II history of Poland in other countries is low. Not so long ago some major western journals wrote about "Polish death camps" referring to death camps built and run by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland. The subject is difficult and it is easy to create distorted version of history.

But "Aftermath" is important for our domestic discussion. Whether we like it or not, there is, and there was a lot of anti-Semitism in Poland. We may explain that anti-Semitism was all over Europe in 1930s-1940s - but this is not about someone else - it is about us.

We were the victims of WWII. Millions of Poles died, some in Nazi death camps. We suffered Nazi occupation, and Soviet occupation - so we tend to see ourselves as sinless heroes. But this is not the whole story. Dark part of it is that anti-Semitism flourished in pre war Poland. Nazi criminals created environment encouraging to vent hate and aggression. Massacres like the one in Jedwabne were not widespread, but it happened. Yes, some Poles were evil. It should be a lesson for future generations.

Today in Poland we have almost no Jews at all, but we still have anti-Semitism. When supporters of competing football clubs call adversaries "Jews" - it means hate is coded in their language. Some may say those are ignorant, dumb people - maybe just a few percent of population. They do it out of sheer stupidity - hating all differences: Jews, Muslims, black people, gay people or whatever. But it does not matter. There is too much acceptance for such behaviours. People who killed their neighbors in Jedwabne also were dumb and not representative for the whole nation.

"Aftermath" is important because it ignites discussion. Even if Poles risk bad reputation outside, this is worth it.

I personally think that Pasikowski’s film "Aftermath" flatters only Jewish chauvinism and other foreigners’ ignorance about Poles, polish ethnical minorities and their property relations to farmland, since the whole films’ plot simply suggests that all local polish farmers from a one village killed their Jewish neighbors to rob them of the arable land. So the viewer after seeing that film will only get to know that polish peasants where possessing only wastelands and a war was a good chance for them to kill Jews and grab their fertile land. So that film in principle coins not the “truth” about war and even not a “prejudice” against Poles, but is a type of story that runs: “Boys will be always boys. One killed another to get some money to go to the burger king for a big sandwich with a double bacon and salad”.

Why did Germany attack Poland? Did it have to do with vast german lands given to Poland after WWI and did the Germans allow hundreds of thousands of Fleeing Polish Jews into Germany?
England France 1938 Declared war on Germany and fire bombed major cities Why?
Listen Folks--Germany was incent on all matters except it was a zionist state. USA was an ally of Germany upto 1940. America was in a sinister deal with Nazi regime--send millions if possable Jews into Palestine. Not enough sent-almost 175,000 jews deported and the rest waited in concentration camps. Uncle Sam was not pleased in the low numbers.
Barn burning and Jewish killings by the Mayor in charge was meant to blame the Germans. monument depicting the Germans did the dirty deed has been removed. Sad but true

The Polish film "Aftermath" is worth seeing and thinking about. It is fictional, probably based on what really happened in Jedwable. Two Polish brothers (ages about 40) discover evidence that their own deceased parents participated in an atrocity (killing 26 families and appropriating their property). The younger brother thinks it would be better to keep quiet; he is afraid foreign media will use the evidence to darken Poland's reputation. The older brother feels morally bound to share the discovery with the entire world.

Several days before seeing the film I faced the same dilemma, after finding three racist documents on Polish fora. After some hesitation I translated them and posted them at my university website:

Evidently, a difficult film. I think poles have reason to be aggrieved. They do tend, in their very occasional appearance in US productions about the holocaust, to be portrayed as uniformly anti-semitic. Which is, put simply, rubbish.

And at the same time, there's remarkably little knowledge or coverage about how poles suffered in the war.

Other than perhaps some good polish directors (whether in the country, or from the diaspora) actually making films about it, I don't think there's any quick way to counter this.

One ray of hope in history publishing, "The Eagle Unbowed" came out last year. I loved it. But was actually appalled just how much of the story was new to me, even though I'd grown up and gone to school with diaspora poles.

How about some stories about families deported from poland's eastern provinces to the steppes or siberia? Then being ferried across the caspian, trucking across iran and iraq into palestine? Or how about a film about the Polish army in italy, hearing the news about Yalta? And having to decide, whether to return to live under communism, or stay in exile?

Those would be good, stirring films, I think. And better than feeling victimised and reacting defensively. Pride makes better films, than victimhood.

(There were, incidentally, a lot of soldier in the Anders (polish free) army, in british uniform, during the guerrilla campaigns in mandate palestine in the run-up to 1948. They stayed neutral in the jewish/british shooting war).

Ballymichael,your comments have nothing to do with the reality of this particular film;rather you seem unwilling to even allow the discussion of the facts of anti Semitism in the history of
Poland.Allowing that kind of discussion will NOT hinder the discussion of still other tragedies in Polish history. Misi bacsi

Please comment on Jewish anti-Polish bigotry and crimes against Poles in the eastern territories in which Jews took part. No nation or group is free of bigotry, but Polish anti-semitism is blamed for crimes Poles had very little control over, which makes the charge of Polish anti-semitism seem rather exaggerated.
As far as the reality of the film, the film is FICTION. It is rather loosely based on an already fictionalized, or distorted, account of what happened at Jedwabne. Are you threatening more distorted history .....

In 2000 chancellor Gerhard Schröder﻿ declared that Germany's period of penance was over. That pretty much means Germans feel they've paid enough. Of course World Jewish Congress and other holocaust industry organisations immediately scrambled to find an alternate source of cash. They no longer seek reparations from Germany but from "Central Europe", which means Poland. Ever since then Jewish propaganda machine wages a smear campaign on Poland. Case in point: phrase "Polish concentration camps" being notoriously used in NYT and other media. Films like this one are in effect a consequence (pokłosie) of Gerhard Schröder﻿'s declaration.

Wszycho came up with some significant issues that should be addressed as far as identification of Soviet collaborators from 1939 to 1941. In the area inhabited by a mix of nationalities, Poles, Byelorussians, Ukrainians. Lithuanians, Jews, they all could identify one another pretty easily, just like Puerto Ricans and Dominicans in the US. Going back to Eastern Poland, often people were familiar with the individuals taking part in repressions. The persons taking over the government positions vacated by arrested or murdered ethnic Poles would have Jewish names, and their ethnic background were simply known. There were Poles who also took up positions, and they were mostly communist, and they were considered traitors, and some of them were also subjects of revenge killings. In fact, some were also killed in Jedwabne, as I already pointed out, and this is in the book by Gross (for those who naively, in my opinion, believe only him). Please note that when the Russians retreated as the Germans approached, Poles went to the jails run by the Soviets, and found the slaughtered bodies of the Polish prisoners the russians were not able to take with them, or had not killed or deported previously. The resulting emotional anger that spread with the news of these discoveries led to excesses, and this desire for revenge against those who participated, coincided with the start of the Final soution that the Germans decided to undertake. Did the Germans take advantage of this desire for revenge? They did what it took to most efficiently achieve their goals. Is it okay to kill innocent Jewish people for revenge? No! Is it okay to kill innocent Polish people because they're Polish. NO! Is it ok to point fingers at the crimes which happened later, and not talk about the ones which happened first? No, that is hypocrisy, or bias, especially when the later crimes were motivated by a desire for revenge for the first crimes! The groups could easily id each other, and there was no doubt as to who took part in what. This is really the essence of what is wrong with this seriously flawed article.

Poles made a film about past misdeeds. Reactions to the film were differentiated and one-sidedly reported by The Economist. And that's it. There is no risk of rabid nationalists coming to power in Poland. Poland does not honour her Dzierzynskis. The discussion allured a few extremists, which is usual in such forums. This was by the way one of the discoveries of A.H. proudly presented in the last sentence. What shocked me was what someone revealed, Germany is honouring it's nazi 'heroes'. I cite
"Bi-annually on July 20th (anniversary ofStauffenberg's failed coup), the central swearing-in of new Bundeswehr recruits from all over Germany is held in the Bendlerblock, the former Wehrmacht command in Berlin where Stauffenberg was executed."

Stauffenberg was a blinkered nationalist and a racist. He betrayed Hitler after German army collapsed in Stalingrad. He thought Hitler's leadership is bad but he backed his ideas.
If the above citation says the truth it suggests Germans dislike their defeat more than roots of the war, the 50-78 (depending on sources) million dead people !!! and bestialization of large part of their ancestors.

Hear, hear. This is a hoary old chestnut, perhaps with one tiny difference. And the idealisation of Stauffenberg seems quite relevant. In the past, though not so long ago, I'd immediately think it was a ploy to get the Polish government or private individuals to pay reparations to a Jewish organisation that had previously, on at least three occasions, got such money from the West German government. Of course, after the war the German government was most certainly obliged to pay reparations, not only to Jews, though perhaps not as many as 3 times. In the end, some got paid three times, while others (e.g. victims in the communist bloc) got nothing. But those who were in the West and in the know, knew they could not get Germany to cough up a 4th time. That's when they started accusing the Poles. It has to be stressed that unlike, for instance, the French government, no Polish government was ever responsible for the Holocaust, so the claim was always nonsensical and offensive. But Pasikowski's agitprop flick and A.H.'s disgraceful propaganda article most probably has nothing to do with that. In fact, now those who are most interested in getting hold of Polish property, e.g. in western Poland, e.g. Pyżyce, or the Mazury region are those who now very much like to see Germany as a war victim and no doubt also idealise Stauffenberg.

On 15 April 1945 soldiers of the 102. Infantry Division of IX Army of USA moving towards the East, came across a burnt brick barn in the village Gardelegen. It turned out that there were burnt and charred corpses of 1016 soldiers of war and prisoners of concentration camps in it. What happened there? On 13 April 1945, the SS unit, escaping from the Soviets and leading them in the ‘march of death’ from the East, came across American leaders and decided to remove unnecessary ‘ballast’. Over 1000 prisoners were forced into a barn with hay, were drenched with petrol and set on fire. Opposite the gate of the barn SS – soldiers stood with machine weapon, grenades and were killing those who had managed to get out from the burning building. Apart from the SS-soldiers, soldiers of Luftwaffe, Fallschirmmjager, Hitlerjugend, Volkssturm took part in the action. Another contribution to the legend about the ‘knight’ German soldier.

Only in 4 cases, the Americans managed to determine the identity of victims. For 301 hardly their camp numbers were determined. 711 prisoners were not identified at all. They were able to recognize the nationality of 186 dead soldiers: 60 Poles, 52 Russians, 27 French, 17 Hungarians, 8 Belgians, 5 Germans, 5 Italians, 4 Czechs, 4 Yugoslavians, 2 Dutch, 1 Mexican (?) and 1 Spanish. The Americans forced inhabitants of local villages to dig graves and bury corpses. American soldiers said that it was visible that the Germans only pretended remorse – in fact they were glad with this kind of things. They felt relief that they had not got into the hands of freed prisoners. SS-soldiers ‘solved’ this urgent ‘problem’ by removing potential avengers.

(...)

It is a shame to admit but I have not heard about it. No Gross has written a book about it, no Pasikowski made a film about it. On the website of the town I read that there is probably a monument in Gardelegen but I have not heard that presidents, prime ministers, official state delegations had paid a tribute there, like they do in Jedwabno. And it is worth adding that the barn in Gardelegen was drenched with German petrol and set on fire with German matches by the country with German hands of German functionaries. And, probably, German jurisdiction of the German authority was functioning there like in Jedwabno.

Today the whole world knows about Jedwabno, but no dog knows about Gardelegen today. How many people in Poland know about this barn, although mainly Poles were burnt there…

However, do not expect a film about Gardelegen. Today there is a different trend.‘A Pianist’,“ A list of Schindler’…., today we must show fair Germans, the fairest among the nations of the world. Although it will be difficult with new masterpieces because the bench of fair Germans was, unfortunately, too short. Whereas one can multiply works about bad and unfair Poles, even if it has not been completely proved and certain that they were unfair.

I have tried to post a separate thread but I was banned here: "It looks like you have already posted 3 comments in response to this content. If you would like to contribute further, please reply to one of the existing comments."

Of course this simply is a censorship. I cant post a comment in response to this article anymore in spite of I have replied to a comment twice.

In response to Pioro-Bonczo, Yulia and for the benefit of others who are reading these comments. I want to make it absolutely clear that I consider the deaths of Jews and the few ethnic Polish communists also killed in Jedwabne to be a tragedy, and am pained by the deaths of these innocent people when I try to visualize what they went through. The Polish President did apologize for the limited role of a few Poles in these deaths. I do not believe in collective guilt, nor do I believe in the death penalty for crimes other than murder.
Now, what I wish to continue to point out is that this article is full of omissions and false facts, and is, I stongly believe, an attempt to accuse all, or most, Poles, for the crimes of a few, while omitting worse crimes committed in these same territories against Poles where the roles were reversed, and created the motivation for revenge. In addition I would like to point out that this article is egregiously misleading by omitting the presence of German death squads who dictated what was to happen in this town, and before whose military might both the Polish citizens and Jewish citizens were helpless. If the Germans had decided to march the Polish citizens into that barn, that is what would have happened, as there were no persons who had the capability of resisting their evil will. The accusations of anti-semitism for pointing out that only a few participated a little more willingly than they had to due to a desire for revenge is just an attempt to hide the truth. The accusations of anti-semitism for pointing out that there were Jews who willingly rounded up and murdered innocent Poles and collaborated in general with the Soviets who were murdering Poles, and pro Polish Jews, is another attempt to hide the truth.
I acknowledge that some Poles, out of a desire for revenge, took part in murder of Polish communists and innocent Jews. I would like to see similar acknowledgements of the murderous role of Jews towards Poles. I would like to see an apology from a representative of Jews. I do not promote hate towards Jews, and frankly, I believe the lack of knowledge of these "Jewish" crimes are the result of Soviet propaganda, that was carried as the the truth by their dupes and collaborators in the West. I do know individuals of Jewish heritage who do acknowledge these crimes. I'm friends with them, even though they're Jewish, because they're human like me, and I happen to like them. I do not dislike anybody because they are Jewish. I do reserve the right, however, to dislike people who dislike me, purely because I am pro-Polish, and defend Poles who I sincerely believe are unfairly charged.

I am amazed and disgusted to read these comments. So much antisemitism, so much hatred, unabashed, irrational, penetrating. Nonsensical allusions to imagined Jewish association with KGB. Felix Dzerjinsky was a Polish nobleman (minor one) and a Catholic (a former one). So what of that? Should someone run out and kill everyone Polish Catholic now? What horrible nonsense. Antisemistism in Poland is part of the culture. Admit it already. Yes, Poles burned Jews alive in barns and organized pogroms. It's true. Just live with it. Just like modern Germans live with the heritage of mass murder. it is part of their history. You can try not repeat it and renounce the past. But you cannot deny objective reality and truth. Just keeps Poles back from development and confirms the sterotypes.

There is a saying "what you shout at the forest, the forest will return 10 times".
I am amazed and disgusted to read these comments. So much antipolonism, so much hatred, unabashed, irrational, penetrating. Nonsensical allusions to imagined Polish association with SS. Jakub Berman was from Poland's Jewish middle-class (minor one). So what of that? Should someone run and kill everyone Jewish now? What horrible nonsense. Antipolonism among Jews is a part of culture. Admit it already. Yes, Jews murdered Poles, expelled Poles to Soviet camps, organized bolshevik terror. It's true. Just live with it. Just like modern Germans live with the heritage of mass murder. it is part of their history. You can try not repeat it and renounce the past. But you cannot deny objective reality and truth. Just keeps Jews back from development and confirms the sterotypes.

Dear YuliaS,
I wish to repeat some points I made in response to the original version of this article. Participation in and profiteering from the holocaust (whether in direct or indirect form) was a marginal phenomenon in Polish society under German occupation, and was perceived as a deviation by mainstream society. Resistance against German occupation in general, and helping Jews in particular, were perceived as the norm by mainstream Polish society.
The societal mainstream has been studied extensively in the decades after the war, and been the subject of numerous novels, plays and films. In the past decade, marginal phenomena of life under occupation have become the subject of studies as well as books and films, such as the two cited in this article. This bears witness to the open discussion by Polish society, the majority of which does not wish to have any blind spots on its past.
Unfortunately, in a number of European countries, exactly the opposite is the case. Participation in or profiteering from the Holocaust were mainstream phenomena, while resistance against German occupation, let alone helping Jews, were marginal. Nonetheless, there is little discussion on any of this in the academia or the media of these countries. Readers from these countries will get the impression from this article that the same were true of Poland. By suggesting that the same were true even of a country like Poland, this article provides an excuse for the lack of an honest debate in these countries. It effectively suggests that anti-Semitism was somehow the norm everywhere.

I strongly disapprove of the way you are treating this serious issue of Anti-Semitism. What JuliaS has written is basically true, try to come to terms with these upleasant historic facts without getting drunk as a lord and I will congratulate you on your sense of humanity.

I strongly disapprove of the way you are treating this serious issue of Anti-Polish bigotry. What guest-inenmsw has written is basically true, try to come to terms with these unpleasant historic facts without getting drunk as a lord and I will congratulate you on your sense of humanity.

Goood! I can tell you by virtue of what phenomenon you are able to create all such mirror-like comments: you are taking advantage of the fact that these two nations, i.e. the Jews and the Poles have so many similarities that they are quite alike each other. Both the Poles and the Jews have never in fact had their own homeland-country, they both were scattered all over the world, keeping their ties with their fellow compatriots in the neighbourhood (Poland was partitioned in the 19th century and earlier you can't really say that there was any serious Polish nation, as it was a Republic where all the nations and cultures existed side by side in Poland, so, to sum it up, it was either the Middle-ages when there were not supposed to exist any nation states or it was in disarray after the invention of print by Gutenberg which triggered the colapse of Middle-ages in Europe). Two objects which are equally charged repel each other and this is exactly the case of the Poles and the Jews. We have in Poland nowadays a very widespread phenomenon of the so called "self-hating" Poles (due to our tragic history which is rejected more and more today by young Poles who are fed up with "gloria victis", Poland = Messiah of the nations, zealot-like Roman Catholicism, etc.), likewise you find "self-hating" Jews in e.g. American diaspora (they are fed up with WW2 resentiments,i.e. being constantly reminded that they were Hitlers victims, they object to orthodoxy, etc.); no such thing can be observed inside any other nation (I believe). That the ditto is true you can prove by being able to write all such mirror-like comments. Our nations resemble each other to such an enormous extent that you can easily substitute one nation by the other (notice, however, that you wouldn't be able to do the same trick with other nations, e.g. The Ukrainians and the Poles, or the Gremans and the French).

Yes, both nations are similar. It has been said you can't properly discuss the history of the Jews without talking about Poland, and I like to add, "and vice versa". This incitement to hate between the two is unfortunate and, well, I truly believe, incited. Ignorance helps this along, and to fight ignorance there must be respectful debate, not censorship, or omissions and distortions of the truth as this article exemplifies. A lot of the accusations made against the Poles were the result of circumstances beyond their control and most humans under the same circumstances would have done the same negative things, and this includes Jews. Pointing out that Jews commit crimes against Poles, WHICH THEY DID, shows again that Poles and Jews are human, and very much like one another. Hypocrisy only leads to resentment, and hate, and division, and I have to simply suspect that these articles are about that. It is hard to figure out why but Soviet and post Soviet Russian propaganda to weaken Poland as a competitor is, in my belief, the most likely source of attempts to foster this situation between Poles and Jews. Also please note that the "Elders of Zion" was created by the Russian Tsars, so the Soviets were not the first Russians to try to divide Jews from others, including Poles, and the fall of the Soviets certainly does not mean these attempts will have ended.

In my last comment I forgot to add that both the Jews and the Poles are the nations which are sort of inherently incapable of agreeing upon anything, they are the nations which are deeply divided inside themselves and they constantly quarrel between each other. You might be right with the Tzars and the Soviets. This anti-semitic trend tends to continue in Russia, unfortunately, as I distinctly remember Michail's Gorbatchev's remark that Jews constitute merely 5% of population yet they exert political influence as though they were 40% (I might be wrong with exact numbers, but I remember Gorbatchev saying this). One shouldn't forget about this other fact that today, now, a fellow named Zhirinovsky is admitted to the Kremlin, and that he has his share of power in today's Russian politics. Nevertheless, I am going to be more concerned with the state of things such as they are in Poland: there is still a very strong political support for anti-semitism in Poland, there are still some vocal political groups which reduce all the ills of the world to some Jewish plot. Now the current crisis continues and noone can see even the light in the tunnel, noone can reasonably say that this crisis is going to be overcome in the forseeable future, quite opposite is the case - more and more respected economists say that this is going to be a tough and a long one. If the worse comes to the worst I can easily imagine Mr Kaczyński taking the role of Adolf Hitler in Poland. Sorry if I offended your political beliefs but Mr Kaczyński has behaved in such a way for the last 20 years as though he was going to pronounce a certain group in Poland responsible for all the ills, put them into custody, forced interrogations, the late Mrs Barbara Blida and stuff like that. This might be a nightmare and this danger is being grossly neglected and overlooked in Poland by our stupid and irresponsible, Polish elites. At the same time TRANSPARENCY INTERNATIONAL is evacuating from Poland, probably due to some untold of corruption at the highest echelons of Polish government (how else can you explain this bizarre lack of presence of TI in only one European country?). Mr Gross is constantly being sent to Coventry in Polish TV (it is up to these stupid Polish elites to decide whom they admit to take part in TV programs) for his revealing the truth about the Poles' role in the holocaust - isn't it a recipe for some social calamity in Poland?

Huh, I'm not a fan of Gross and his friends. I don't believe he has done anything good for anybody other than himself. His reflections on everything being caused by anti-semitism are ridiculous. He did not reveal any truth about the Poles' role in the Holocaust because the only truth is that they were co-victims. If you're going to talk about collaboration of Poles with the Germans then you must talk about the collaboration of Jews with the Germans as well, which in both cases was minimal, in spite of the distortions and omissions and the removing events out of context that Gross likes to do.
I don't believe in any Jewish plots, but post Soviet plots, yes, and with the involvement of fanatics from many countries, such as we saw in the Occupy this and occupy that movement.
Anyway, Poles and Jews have that trait of disagreeing constantly with each other, I agree with you on that. There must be others though with the same trait.
I don't know what you mean by Gross being sent to coventry in Polish TV. Is he banned? Kaczynski is not advocating violence, I don't think. I don't follow his speeches, but I haven't heard any specific instances.

"Apart from repulsion, I feel anger on the false and mean attitude of Jews towards national issues. That nation, complaining about chauvinism of other peoples, is itself the most chauvinist nation in the world. The Jews who complain about intolerance of the others, are the least tolerant themselves. That nation who shouts about hatred it raises, can hate others the strongest."

It saddens me to read so many comments on here making up every possible theory, to remove blame from the Poles at Jedwabne. And if they do accept the fact, then they justify it by saying some of the Jews welcomed the Soviets or were in the NKVD. So what? So what if some members of the NKVD were Jews. There were also Russians, Poles, Cossacks, Uzbekis, and others in the NKVD and they were all led by a Georgian. People forget that members of the NKVD were hardcore communists, which meant they were internationalists, which means they generally forewent their ethnic roots for their new communist identity. So justifying killing an entire Jewish community because some were communists or sympathizers goes beyond any rational thinking. Furthermore, anti-Semitism is still alive and well in Poland, although ebbing and mostly found among the less educated and older generation, but also with the growing young hardcore nationalists who are always, tirelessly searching for an enemy. To disbelieve that something like Jedwabne or a similar event could happen in a village 70 years ago when many of its inhabitants had little or no education is disingenuous. Even today, seeing the marches of NOP and ONR, where following their last march in Wroclaw, went and destroyed a popular 'hippy' squat because they were so-called "Lefties" even beating one nearly to death. That same night windows in the only Synagogue of Wroclaw were broken. Is someone sane going to tell me that people of that sort of stock, given the circumstances, couldn't have committed something like Jedwabne?

How about acknowledgement or sympathy for the ethnically Jewish (or Belarussian, or Ukrainian, or Russian, or etc.) innocent women and children murdered by the Soviets? Do you even comprehend how anti-Semitic your remark "with the help of Jews" is? Your remark casts blame on an entire people!

How would you react to a historically accurate statement such as: "How about acknowledgement or sympathy for the ethnically Polish innocent women and children murdered by the Nazis with the help of Poles" Should all Poles be blamed for killing their own?

Practice what you preach. There were plenty of Poles living in Jedwabne. All we know for certain is that a few, including, IIRC, two brothers, and I'm not sure if they were necessarily from that particular village, participated in what in all likelihood was a typical German SS Einsatzgruppen operation. Those two bothers at least, were after the war tried for their participation in this terrible crime and served prison sentences. If you were to say those sentences were light, I'd probably have to agree, because at the time Poles like Witold Pilecki were tried by the same communist courts and paid the ultimate price. But whichever way you look at it, you seem oblivious to the fact that you are making making far worse anti-Polish remarks, such as: "It saddens me to read so many comments on here making up every possible theory, to remove blame from the Poles at Jedwabne." A classic example of the pot calling the kettle black.

I checked up. After the war, some 40 or 50 Poles were interrogated by the communists. Interrogation methods included torture, but eventually, in 1949, only 23 of these were tried, and they weren't necessarily from the small town of Jedwabne. Before the war, Jedwabne had well over 2000 inhabitants. J.T. Gross was wrong to claim as many as 60% of the inhabitants were Jewish. In fact pre-war census figures show 60% were Catholic. Therefore no one is entitled to claim that anyone other than a tiny minority of the inhabitants participated in the murder. One should also always remember that there were other inhabitants of Jedwabne who risked their lives to shelter Jews.

Are you sure they were Jews? Were they not by any chance their own Polish neighbours who just wanted to get rid of their rivals to the post of the Head director of the local cooperative, like "Gminna Spółdzielnia - GS"? It could well have been someone from the other side of the village wanting to take the same post in the newly created communist system who betrayed his compatriot to the communists and blamed the guilty-for-all Jews for doing it.

Yes, I am sure they were Poles, because if they had been other nationality they would have been deported. As you can see this ability to create mirror-like comments remains exclusively to Jews and Poles. Our two nation are different from the rest of humanity (well, I'm kidding).

When you asked "are you sure they were Jews", did you mean the Jews who collaborated with the Soviets? If so, in the area inhabited by a mix of nationalities, Poles, Byellorussians, Ukrainians. Lithuanians, Jews, they all could identify one another pretty easily, just like Puerto Ricans and Dominicans in the US. Going back to Eastern Poland, often parties were familiar with the individuals taking part in repressions. The persons taking over the government positions vacated by arrested or murdered ethnic Poles would have Jewish names, and their ethnic background were simply known. There were Poles who also took up positions, and they were mostly communist, and they were considered traitors, and some of them were also subjects of revenge killings. In fact, some were also killed in Jedwabne, as I already pointed out, and this is in the book by Gross. Remember that when the Russians retreated as the Germans approached, Poles went to the jails run by the Soviets, and found the slaughtered bodies of the prisoners the russians were not able to take with them. This emotional anger led to excesses, and this desire for revenge against those who participated, coincided with the start of the Final soution that the Germans decided to undertake. Did they Germans take advantage of this desire for revenge? They did what it took to most efficiently achieve their goals. Is it okay to kill innocent Jewish people for revenge? No! Is it okay to kill innocent Polish people because they're Polish. NO! Is it ok to point fingers at the crimes which happened later, and not talk about the ones which happened first? No, that is hypocrisy, or bias, especially when the later crimes were motivated by a desire for revenge for the first crimes! But something tells me you know all this, especially that the groups could easily id each other, and there was no doubt as to who took part in what.l

Far outside intellectual circles,Eastern Europe remains stubbornly hostile to the Jews and anti Turk as well. It is as if all those memorials for murdered Jews exists to cover up a shameful attitude as strong today as it as always been through history.It is as if WW 2 never happened. I am a non European and not a Jew but having lived in Eastern Europe for sometime I am saddened but not shocked. Only Getmany seems to have mended itself.

Your interpretation of reality is misleading. Just see it as You are hitting and I am bearing it. 50% it is your victory and 50% it is my pain. What is going here about- revisionism for Promised land or Chosen people alibi? Did you get some profit on it ? and thus it goes ages. I lived some time with gypsies and found them also partially of their own even when they are beaten.But not making from it grease. Understanding , real understanding is heavy burden - if you bear it you have not so much energy to waste it on hitting or blaming others for being hit . You mentioned conquered Germans as being mended - are you sure that it was your intention to do and not to make lewd profit from them ? They just tried to liberate themselves from ..your success do not you see and you blame them for holocaust.In 1933 Samuel Untermayer declared Holy Jewish war against Germans with words we will starve them to submission and You did. Didn't they mend from hunger?

Indeed some kind of people were allowed to be led by their leaders to promisory applications of pain or vinning against others and as you see against themselves. Word "Hunger" does it mean something personal to you ? Just Vocabulary ?It has different conotation to lack of internet access or slow download from blocade of Gaza strip from peaceful supply flotila . Who invented Gheto and compartmenalization of mankind by Hate? What for?

It is all too easily that people blame each other for things which they believe were these other people fault, and it usually turns out that they weren't. There is some chronic lack of a more objective view on these matters, we tend to get too particular and we overhastily overgeneralize things.

It might be worth mentioning that this film, Pokłosie, was part financed by the EU. So we have a situation where other countries are giving polish directors money to film anti-polish films. I do seriously wonder if this film could ever be made without those eu funds.

While it is fortunate that, under the pressure of criticism, this article has been somewhat altered, it's main thrust remains unchanged.
The author continues to repeat Jan Tomasz Gross’s claim that at Jedwabne “several hundred Jews were burnt alive in a barn by their Polish neighbors.” Apparently, the writer of the editorial is unfamiliar with the basic scholarly historiography on the subject. For example, American-based historian Marek Jan Chodakiewicz has long proven, in his 2005 monograph The Massacre in Jedwabne (translated into Polish in 2012), that a few local ethnically Polish henchmen may have voluntarily participated in a pogrom, the massacre was undoubtedly organized and inspired by the invading Germans, who coerced many of the townspeople into assisting them in their horrific deed. The burning of civilians in barns was, let us not forget, a “technique” often used by the German Nazis (remember Gardelegen?), and was sometimes also employed against Polish Christian villagers caught sheltering Jews. Had Jedwabne been a spontaneous outburst of Polish anti-Semitism, would it not have occurred right after the Red Army’s withdrawal from the area, as opposed to two weeks later?
Further, the report of anthropologist Dr. Andrzej Kola (based at an accredited and respected university in Poland) shows that German bullets were found at the site of the Jedwabne tragedy, which also calls into question the Gross version propagated by the author.
It is a stretch to claim that the argument that “Until today, who knows what happened in that barn in Jedwabne? The film ‘Pokłosie’ shows only one version, the most vicious and toughest for us, Poles” is “coming close to denying the Holocaust.” Few, if any, Poles actually deny that a tragic crime and a massacre of Jews occurred in Jedwabne on 10 July 1941. Many, however, legitimately question a flawed, unscholarly narrative that paints as Hitler’s willing executioners. Such a charge is an extremely damning indictment—exacerbated by the extremely flimsy nature of the evidence used to support it—and the Poles are certainly entitled to defend themselves against it.
The article above is still biased, prejudiced, manipulative journalism at its worst.

At Jedwabne I was not present - but what German soldiers in 1939 experienced with astonishing surprise - Some Jewish communities in Poland , led by their Rabbis welcomed invading German army as The Liberators. I am sure that the film is fraction of our common heritage.

As one would say experiencing Ideological and correct truthfull interpretation of history from Left side as well from Right side of academic spectrum. Time connected with so called Hitler era for Super race it appears as borrowed from Talmud and other prolific works what brood on suppresed totalities-for IF. It created competetive teritory -where internacionalised socialism and its national derivates contested for minds in audience as today war on Terror does. As Prof. Felix koneczny commented Hitleric Judaism or was it Judaic Hitlerism - it dpends on what side you read it from. Communism as well as Rabinical Gheto as Google exercise their authority on their subjects what to say and what selectively remember. We can be sure that Jewish people who welcomed German Werhmacht in Poland 1939 as liberators have their local reasons to do so , and we can be sure that after brief 20 years of Polish statehood the Poles remembered them as previous German speaking go betweens or pain in the neck to their national aspirations. Problem for today is to know our past and use it to know our pesent task . To make ideologic profit or traction on suffering in past it seems rather shalow investment for current 50/50. Just read Martin Luther's Jewish Lies and look at todays Palestine Holocaust what side do you take historical stand on ?

Still astonished by an idea of Jews welcoming German Wermacht as the liberators. You proved it was theoretically possible, still didn't support me with any proof in historical work / memoires which would say something on that topic.

The possibility that a thing can happen doesn't prove it actually happens.

It did happened and there is perhaps more skeletons in the closet. The first edition of Emanuel Ringelblum Warshav gheto diary is rather different reading to Anne Frank's one.To know is rather exhaustive process in disbelief.

The report,(from exhumation conducted in 2001 in Jedwabne) prepared by Prof Andrzej Kola from Mikolaj Kopernik University in Torun syas that the archaeologists found 46 empty cartridge cases from a gun of German Mauser type, in the place where the massacre happened.

The investigation of the Institute of National Remembrance — Commission for the Prosecution of Crimes against the Polish Nation established that the number of murdered people on 10 July 1941 was from 200 to 300 not 1600 as Gross wrote in his book "Sasiedzi".

The participations of Germans as perpetrators in Jedwabne is indisputable - says a well-known historician dr Piotr Gontarczyk. This fact proves among others the indictment and lawsuit documents from 1949. These documents Gross didn't take into consideration. He wrote his book according the report of three people who were not in July 1941 in Jedwabne.

The Karabiner 98 Kurz (often abbreviated Kar98k, K98, or K98k) was a bolt action rifle chambered for the 7.92×57mm Mauser cartridge that was adopted as the standard service rifle in 1935 by the German Wehrmacht. It was one of the final developments in the long line of Mauser military rifles. Although supplemented by semi- and fully automatic rifles during World War II, it remained the primary German service rifle until the end of World War II in 1945.

Sorry, I used an incorrect shortcut. Though the thesis remains unchanged: no shots were fired in Jedwabne massacre in 1941 (at least no cartridges from that period were found).

This is what the Polish state investigation says: two types of cartridges were found in the specified area. One of them comes from the Mosin (Russian) system and the second one originates from Mauser (German). The cartridges production was dated as pre-1915 and the type of ammunition was probably used during I WW in 1915, when the frontline passed close to Jedwabne.

Second type of cartridges comes from MG-42 type machine gun; this one was under development in 1941.

Why do you think the Israeli side didn't allow to conduct comprehensive, full, minute exhumation in Jedwabne? Why the Israeli side was in a hurry, why the exhumations were gaven up? Now we have only incomplete report and more doubts:

I took down your arguments about the cartridges: in no official papers can we find the thesis made by prof. Kula.

Of course there are doubts, the exhumation itself was, so to say, 'weirdly made'. But quoting just one site with a strong right-wing views and which is taking sentences out of context isn't, I believe, enough to make up anyone's mind on this case.

You don't want to believe in what is said to be common knowledge (in here I mean the official papers of IPN), but yet you believe a page which presents a few arguments an has a completely non-scientifical approach towards the problem?

Unfortunately, while some inaccuracies were corrected, thanks to comments posted underneath the original version of the article, MOST inaccuracies remain. Interestingly, the comments which are still applicable for pointing out the inaccuracies which still remain were "discarded". I think that the inaccuracies that were corrected were so basic that one has a right to wonder if AH is less than credible in the rest of the article that was not changed. So again, here is my comment that was unnecessarily removed by the revamping of this article.
The problem with the topic of Jedwabne is that it was preceded by crimes, including murder on the spot and the deportations of hundreds of thousands of innocent, and mostly women, children and elderly to their deaths in the gulag, against Poles, and Polish Jews, by the Soviets IN WHICH JEWS TOOK PART. These crimes, and this is quite significant, took place BEFORE the Germans implemented the "final solution" towards the European Jews. TO TALK ABOUT JEDWABNE WITHOUT TALKING ABOUT THE CRIMES AGAINST POLES WHICH PRECEDED IT IN WHICH THERE WERE JEWS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THEM IS SIMPLY BIASED AND INTELLECTUALLY DISHONEST. What makes it worse is when authors such as AH write about it and somehow forget that there were German death squads in the town which represented the full might of the German military which destroyed the militaries of many nations, and, at this time, was winning the war with the Soviets. Considering the atrocities the Germans perpetrated already against the ethnic Poles, it should be clear to those who are fair minded that whatever the few Poles did in this town was done under serious duress, with anger and desire for revenge mixed in. What is most infuriating about this movie is that it presents Jedwabne again in slanted fashion, with the omissions that are all too familiar to Poles. While the Polish government apologized for the sins of a few Poles, there is no similar apologies from Jews, just more finger pointing and denial of the collaboration of some Jews with both the Germans and the Soviets. The Soviets and their friends in the western press threw mud at those who claimed the Soviets perpetrated Katyn, but this did not prevent the truth from ultimately coming out, and Polish and Russian relations could not have improved without this truth being finally acknowledged by the Russians. The same will be for Polish Jewish relations, no matter how judgmental people are who should look in the mirror before they point fingers .... When there will be movies about Jewish sins against Poles, or movies about Polish sins against Jews with equally accurate mention of sins of Jews against Poles, then Poles will not be as defensive. Considering the prevalence of distortions and omissions that somehow always exaggerate Polish sins, while ignoring similar sins of others when it comes to Polish WW II history in western media and academia, and considering especially the anti Polish bigotry this presentation of history has been breeding, as evidenced by Zbignew, it is no wonder those who participated in this movie, are considered traitors to the vast majority of Poles who endured WW II, did nothing wrong, and suffered unimaginable horrors, only because they were Polish. Put simply - be fair!

Western course of history is run by Jewish intellectuals dramatists and professors proselytizing holy cause - to invent history is the easiest crime against The Humanity . And great deal of worthless money is possible to make from it .Not that criticism would make one suffer more or less when interpretation of common reality is woven into snares and blames. What they want from us ? Totality of ? What for - we welcomed them and they turned against us.In WWI -POW camps they were most hated fellow prisoners - they organised Black market and rackets with wardens occupants and guards. From hunger ? - others were hungry too, were they not ?

There were Russians in the NKVD as well. And they were all led by a Georgian. Using your logic, would it be justified to kill an entire random village of ethnic Russians or Georgians? Your logic is the same the Nazis used against Polish partisans. If the partisan killed a German soldier, and he could not be caught, someone or a group of random people would be shot and killed in his place. Is that what you are implying to be 'fair' because some members of NKVD were Jews, therefore the entire Jewish population should be put on trial?

Nobody is justifying murder. If one is going to judge others then look in the mirror. Don't point fingers for a crime and totally ignore a worse crime which preceded it in which the roles were reversed. If an apology was made by representatives of Poland for a crime that was inspired by Germans, in which a few Poles took part, don't misrepresent this crime as a Polish crime and forget all circumstances which point to the Germans as responsible. Having accepted this apology, then Jewish representatives should do the decent thing and apologize for the crimes of Jews collaborating in Soviet crimes against Poles.

Again your comment has no logic to it. Why should Jews apologize for the actions of some Jews? Who would even do the apologizing? Who is the head Jew? Let's say (in an alternate universe) it was Israelis acting in official fashion, who conspired with the Soviets, then it is clear, the head of that State should apologize for the actions taken by its representatives. Under your logic, Komorowski should apologize to Russia for the Nazi invasion of (then) Soviet Union because one of the head commanders of the SS was an ethnic Pole.

Why should the Polish President have apologized for some Poles who acted on revenge on their own with coercion and/or persuasion on the part of the Germans, in violation of directives by the Polish government in exile to not participate in German crimes against Jews? Because it is the right thing to do. Never are there enough apologies. Any Jewish person could apologize for the actions of members of their ethnic group. The leaders of any Jewish institution could do the same. Certainly the head of Israel, as it is a Jewish state could apologize for the actions of a some Jews. Why? Because it would be the right thing to do. Basically, what you're saying is that the Polish President should not have apologized for Jedwabne, by reason of arguing against apologizing against similar or worse crimes committed by some Jews. Basically, your attempt to evade the acknowledgement and expression of apology by Jews for the crimes of members of their ethnic group are, in my humble but sincere opinion, lame, hypocritical and ill willed.

Poland, as a result of World WarII in which she was the first victim and de facto one of the greatest losers, swopping one violent foreign oppression for another, is considered to be Europe's ethnically most homogenous state. Over 97% of the current population define themselves as "Poles". But what does that actually mean?

Due to all the population transfers after 1945 the above cocktail is fairly evenly spread around the country (and abroad) though there are some regional variations. Thus Germanic origin genes tend to cluster in the western half; Mongol and Ashkenazi Jewish genes in the eastern half and Finno-Ugrian(Baltic) in the north-east. The last DNA haplotype mentioned is more prevalent in Poland and even more so in Lithuania than in Hungary, despite the latter being traditionally taken as a Finno-Ugrian country!

Racial myths can thus be safely ignored! Your average Catholic Pole is an ethnic genetic cocktail of which he or she is most probably completely unaware. And ultra conservative right wing publicists and politicians should take note that they only sound rediculous when they sound off about "Poland for the Poles", as they themselves are a complex ethnic genetic mixture........

Have your own DNA analysed. You will probably be surprised by the results! The genes say it all!

I think that your previous comment (Jan 6th, 15:59) was excellent. Unfortunately my impression is that you got slightly carried away in the present follow up. I know no right-wing or left-wing line of thought in Poland, not to mention a political/other group, which is defining Polishness basing on racism or DNA (formerly 'blood', it was another country and another time where members of the same Caucasian group where artificially divided into 'races', basing mainly on ideology not science/religion). 'The only true Catholic Pole' mashup even in the times of popularity which are now gone did not mention 'race' though it did -obviously- mention the confession. And the times of popularity of the mentioned mashup are gone because on the one hand Polishness understood as an attachment to Polish language and Polish culture IN GENERAL, is not endangered/actively fought against anymore. On the other hand but in relation, Polish Catholic Church has lost importance as a major factor preserving that Polish culture in GENERAL.

Wish you many insightful comments and happy blogging in the New Year 2013!

The reason I made the DNA comment was that there are many Poles who identify with Roman Dmowski's National Democrat tradition with its focus on "Poland for real Poles" (Polska dla prawdziwych Polaków), in particular those who are members of or support right wing factions of PiS plus LPR, ONR and MW. They are supported by various right wing media backed by the Polish RC Church, such as those of Rev Rydzyk or Mr Sakiewicz. They keep harping on about their own "genuine, patriotic (catholic) Polishness" with considerable racial undertones and overtones. They also refuse to recognise that someone can be a loyal and true Polish citizen who does not hold or accept their viewpoint.

The racist overtones propagated include disparaging comments about "dirty niggers" (brudne czarnuchy) "Yids" (Żydzi) "f....g Ruskies" (p.......i Ruscy). Recent public statements made by the Polish episcopate and clerics confirm the view that the Polish RC Church has unfortunately a very long tradition of rabid intolerance towards those of other faiths or versions of christianity, paying only lip-service to mutual respect and love. Strange, given that the Holy Family and all the Apostles were Jews!

Its enough to walk around any Polish town suburb and centre to see the numerous graffiti daubed on walls. I wonder how much money is actually spent on paint for those graffiti and why the authorities do not remove them? Is it just a lack of money or is the problem far deeper as any such disgusting graffiti are politically tolerated as a freedom of expression?

I agree, at last, you wrote something reasonable. Genes tell everything not only about Polish history, but also about so called "Polish nation". Poland is, surprisingly one of the most diverse nations in Europe. Only language is nearly similar, everywhere in Poland.
In Eastern Poland, we have total different way of thinking like "them" from the Western part. Not better, not worse. Typical, regional product from Lubelskie voivodship, Cebularz Lubelski, candidate for PGI (Protected Geographical Indication)has mixed history. No one can tell if it is jewish-polish product or jewish-ukrainian product or maybe polish-ukrainian product.
If you look on Polish cuisine ( I can call myself THE specialist in this subject)you discover huge ammount of jewish, german, tatar, french, italian, armenian, swedish, czech, dutch, austrian, swiss, greek, hungarian, romanian, turkish, etc, products and dishes.
I can say, that there is not problem with "nationalism, racism or anti-semitism" in Poland, there is problem with "mutual respect among Poles".

Yes, indeed, the Poles have always been a mongrel nation to a far greater extent than any folk living on an island for instance, but contrary to what you suggest, it's never been a secret. In WWII we had Polish patriots with surnames like Fieldorf and Anders fighting SS war criminals like Bronisław Kaminski and Bach-Zalewski and that's as good a definition of what is and what isn't Polishness as you could get. It never had anything to with race. In the 16th century Polish citizens in the truest sense were the predominantly Protestant szlachta. After the Union of Lublin a large number of Lithuanian, Ruthenian, Wallachian, even Muslim Tatar warriors acquired exactly the same, highly privileged status. Quite uniquely they elected for a life term their head of state, who could be French, Transylvanian, Swedish or German, and only occasionally Polish. By the 18th century the preferred language of this over-privileged szlachta caste (the actual word szlachta is probably of German origin) was French. They'd only speak Belarusian, Ukrainian or Polish with their servants.

Indeed, this caste system was very unjust and simply wrong. The Polish Sejm may have been more powerful than the British Parliament and a greater proportion of the population had the right to vote, but it was still a minority and the vast majority of not only Ukrainians or Belarusians but also Poles were serfs, i.e. the lowest of the low. This is what Poland should be really ashamed of. Both Forlana and jubus are right. Race is not an issue in Polish politics (never has been) and the real problem is mutual respect among Poles.

Of course, you're right with regard to graffiti, but isn't it the same with rapidly crumbling pavements, roads and the Modlin runway? Isn't it also the problem of Poles voting for people like Gronkiewicz-Waltz, who is never short of money to remove roadside flowers and crosses or commemorative candles in Krakowskie Przedmieście while they are still burning?

What I most strongly object to is your quite unfounded suggestion of racist undertones in what Fr. Rydzyk or Mr Sakiewicz say. There are plenty of things you can dislike about Rydzyk and Sakiewicz (I could mention a few especially with regard to taste), but to say they are racist is not so much "insightful" as repeating the blatant lies of TOK fm and Gazeta Wyborcza.

But of course you can say anything about people who are not part of the establishment. This has been practised on punters for 7 years now. Poland is divided into young, well educated high income earners from larger cities and the less well-off, uneducated, rural and small town old folk who still go to church and vote for a bloke who hasn't got a wife, a bank account or driving licence but has a cat and lives with his aged mother. You know, the peasants fro the eastern wall which you know so much about. And of course you're not a racist.

Dear commentators,
I think the dispute turns into normal, everyday political fight. Polish media are full of that stuff.
Noone is expected to abruplty change his political or 'social' views, but do they have to be so seriously demonstrated in EVERY exchange?

The media have been full of it since time immemorial, or rather since the 17th century, when they started off as propaganda pamphlets, which they continue to be today. Thomas Jefferson was especially aware of this sad truth and boycotted all newspapers. But since then people have stopped reading books, stopped speaking to each other and are now relying almost entirely on the media. An increasingly influential mediacracy supports an increasingly infantile mediocracy and together they are nurturing the views of an increasingly ignorant population, who assume these views to be their own. Should we pass over such views with silence? If someone's spitting at you, is it always best to pretend it's just rain?

One can say that almost 1,000 sisters helped Jews. It is hard to say exactly how many Jews were rescued by nuns, but the number certainly exceeds 1,200. Because adult Jews often received advice from convents about where to find hiding places and other types of assistance, it becomes even harder to fix an exact number of beneficiaries. Among the 70 persons killed for having helped Jews, several dozen were nuns. To date, 14,704 people have received the “Righteous Among the Gentiles” medal from Israel for saving Jews. Of that number, there are 4,954 Poles, including 16 nuns and five priests."

Any similar information about Ukrainian atheists or nationalists saving Jewish children?

As for the "tradition of intolerance dating back at least four centuries", that'd be around the time of the Henrician Articles and Pacta Conventa. But I shan't even bother to explain, your conceited and bigoted ignorance must be bliss to you.